Canadian Glass
October 1, 2009
Forest Glass, Katherine Gray, found glass, acrylic shelves, steel. Heights range from 8'2" to 9'6", 2009
By Katherine Gray
As I write, it’s been pretty much 14 years since I decamped for the United States, thinking at the time that it was going to be for 3 months. I bring that up because I do feel slightly disconnected from the Canadian glass scene, despite staying somewhat abreast of current goings-on from regularly seeing familiar faces at GAS conferences, SOFA, summer craft camps, etc. But it occurred to me that I know precious few of the newer, younger generation of artists who would have arrived on the scene since I left, and that troubles me. Do I have to be in Canada to be aware of this talent?
Katherine Gray, Acqua Alta, 2008
I’ve been very fortunate in my career to be able to travel to Australia, Japan, and Europe and all over America. I hate to say it and I know people are going to hate me for this, but one thing that seems to distinguish Canadian glass is the low profile it keeps! Australia, for instance, invites a reasonable comparison: a country of similar geographic size and population, physically more isolated from other countries than say, Canada, yet in that country, there is a world renowned glass scene. Admittedly, a lot of the work is based on working with Bullseye glass in all its permutations, and consequently secures the support of the Bullseye Glass Corporation for promotion and exhibitions. My impression is that Klaus Moje was the progenitor of this phenomenon. I’d even go so far as to say that he is the Dale Chihuly of Australia, a charismatic and ambitious artist who by sheer force of will was able to develop an entire collector class, support network and glass education powerhouse at the ANU. Does the difference between Australia (and America) and Canada boil down to the presence or lack thereof of a larger-than-life glass dynamo?
That could be an easy answer, which doesn’t paint the full picture, but it does speak to an anomalous insularity that I remember experiencing when I was living in Canada. I distinctly recall instances of snide condescension and/or blatant disregard for what our peers were doing across the border. I know Canadians are sensitive to always living in the shadow of the cultural behemoth to the South. I can empathize with this sensitivity, even as I have evidently embraced living here. As for my American friends, it’s not that they don’t understand that feeling, they just don’t comprehend it all. I can’t help but wonder if this long shadow wears on Canadians, whether artist or not, somehow discouraging tall poppies from emerging.
Please keep in mind that I am speaking in generalities, as I know there are plenty of artists out there thinking big, showing internationally, winning awards, and making a fine living and career from working with glass. But if Kevin Lockau is wringing his hands to define Canadian glass and can’t do it, I don’t know who can!
Katherine Gray, Forest Glass (detail), 2009
There would have been a time when I would have characterized Canadian glass as a mixed media state of affairs, the glass components typically not exhibiting much in the way of skill or polish and always used in conjunction with, yes, stones, bones, rusty detritus, and one of my all-time faves, beaver chewed sticks. Thankfully, times have changed, and perhaps it is an indication of our hyper-interconnected world, as Kevin suggests, that no cohesive or overarching vision has emerged in the wake of rough-hewn artisanship.
Perhaps this could be attributed to what I would say is a fundamental shortcoming in the glass education arena in Canada in that there are no MFA programs, which is of course at odds with the fact that one needs an MFA to teach. If you had asked me about that ten years ago, I would have thought that situation awkward, but not so detrimental. I wouldn’t say the same today. In the intervening years, the options for pursuing a Master’s degree elsewhere, particularly in the States, have dwindled, become outrageously unaffordable or increasingly competitive. The deleterious side effect is an ongoing lack of a sustained intellectual rigor; the constant quest and questioning that is so often spawned from some of the better grad programs is on the whole missing in Canada. Again, there are those exceptional voices that don’t need a degree to be insightful and influential artists, but they should not exist alone in the wilderness. I am still chagrined to see how slow and resistant Canadians seem to be when it comes to embracing technique to the point where there is a level of mastery, and then making something of their own with it. Certainly there are some accomplished craftspeople, but there are a lot of wannabes and knock-off artists thrown in for good measure. Not that this is particular to Canada - in fact, I find it endemic within the glass community as a whole - but their presence anywhere poisons the well of honest self- expression, and Canada offers a comparatively small well.
Katherine Gray, Tabletopiaries, 2008
At this point, I feel I am grasping – trying to locate some seed of innate ‘Canadian-ness’ that permeates the current, and recent past, glass scene, and for better or worse, it is a struggle to try and come up with an answer. A continuing affinity for the natural landscape? More technically-adept renditions of stones and bones? Something that could (or could not?) be confused with American work? Ten, twenty or thirty years ago, it would have been easier to define Canadian glass, French glass, Japanese glass, etc. It is a polyglot world we inhabit now, where cultural distinctions of any kind are giving way to the worldwide trend of homogeneity. Perhaps this should sound an alarm that we need to maintain our national artistic identities, but there has to be a balance as, ideally, we all want to make art that is appreciated on a world stage, don’t we?
Katherine Gray received her AOCA from the Ontario College of Art and her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Since then she has been the recipient of several residencies and fellowships. Her work has been exhibited throughout the USA and internationally in group and solo exhibitions. It is in the collections of the Corning Museum and the Museum of American Glass. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, where she is also a faculty member at California State University San Bernardino.
